Forsyth Commissioners Vote To Appeal

Story

Forsyth Commissioners Vote To Appeal

Special Report - February 23, 2010
In a victory for religious freedom in North Carolina, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners voted 4 to 3 Monday night in favor of appealing a federal district judge’s ruling that declared the board’s public prayer policy unconstitutional. With about 500 people, including several church groups, in attendance at the meeting, Board Chairman David Plyler cast the deciding vote. The decision allows the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) to continue to defend the county against a lawsuit challenging the prayer policy, which allows various clergy members from the community to pray to specific deities, including “in the name of Jesus,” prior to commission meetings.

Forsyth County’s prayer policy is being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of North Carolina on behalf of two Winston-Salem residents. The lawsuit, Joyner v. Forsyth County, began in 2007, and is part of an ongoing campaign by the ACLU and its allies to pressure local governments into changing their public prayer policies. As we previously reported, U.S. District Judge James A. Beaty, Jr., ruled on January 28 that the prayer policy, as written, violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and enjoined the county from “continuing the policy as it is now implemented.”

Chairman Plyler had previously been undecided on how to vote on the issue, and had raised concerns about the potential financial costs to Forsyth County, should the county ultimately lose the case. Although ADF is representing the county at no cost, in the event that the county loses the appeal, it would have to pay the legal costs accrued by the plaintiffs and their attorneys since the case began. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Plyler changed his mind after meeting this weekend with members of the North Carolina Partnership for Religious Liberty, which has committed $300,000 to help the county with the cost of the appeal.

“We applaud the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners for their courageous decision to continue defending their public prayer policy,” said Bill Brooks, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council. “Local governments across our state are under enormous pressure from the ACLU and its allies to censor prayers at government meetings, and they are watching this case closely. Sectarian prayers, including prayer ‘in Jesus name,’ offered by local religious leaders prior to government meetings are a historic and constitutional tradition in the United States that deserve to be protected.”